Several technical solutions to produce a microdermabrasion apparatus are known, all comprising vacuum means and/or pressurizing means which send a flow of air and reducing substances on a tissue portion to be treated and then remove from that portion the abraded particles. Such solutions have a drawback in that the sterility of the various components is not guaranteed, unless by complicated and expansive procedures.
Italian patent application FI94A000131 describes a dermabrasion apparatus operating by a flow of reducing substances. The apparatus comprises a compressor, a vacuum pump, and three detachable onepiece components, a mixing bottle, a collecting bottle for the abraded particles and a contact handle to touch the tissue to be treated. Those parts are preferably made of glass or plastic material and can be easily sterilized.
However, such apparatus has some drawbacks due to the fact that the air pressurization is performed by a compressor placed inside the apparatus and therefore difficult to be sterilized. Thus, during the treatment, the compressor could be infected by bacteria which would be afterwards conveyed on the patient's skin by the pneumatic system. Furthermore, the above-mentioned one-piece components are sterilized after the apparauts has been used, but they do not guarantee a proper sterility when the apparatus performs succeeding treatments on different patients. A further drawback is that dangerous contaminations can occur when the mixing bottle is filled with new reducing substances or when the collecting bottle is cleaned of the abraded particles.